In my senior year of college, my friends suggested a weeklong voyage to Mexico. With student debt at the forefront of my mind, I agreed to join them on the condition that the trip was affordable. For $600, we sailed on what felt like a geriatric cruise to Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo. Days were spent playing shuffleboard, ballroom dancing and perfecting napkin folding. That was my first (and last) cruise, but my love affair with Mexico was just getting started. To date, I’ve probably crossed the border more than 50 times, dipping into new destinations with each trip. Now, two decades af…